Goro
Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, who made his debut in the [[Mortal Kombat|first Mortal Kombat]] game as a sub-boss to Shang Tsung. About Goro Goro is one of the original characters debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game as the sub-boss, and later appeared as the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat 4 (only available on home consoles). He first became playable in the Game Boy port of Mortal Kombat. He appeared as a four-armed Shokan warrior who had been the champion of the Mortal Kombat ''tournament for nine generations, remaining undefeated for 500 years. Goro is among Shao Kahn's favorite warriors and is well known for his power and brutality. Goro helped the emperor grow closer to dominating Earthrealm, but he lost at the tenth while fighting against Johnny Cage when Cage lured him to a cliff before kicking him off the ledge. Combat Characteristics Powers and abilities Goro is one of the most powerful warriors in the history of Mortal Kombat, being able to win 9 consecutive ''Mortal Kombat tournaments, as well as defeating the Great Kung Lao in his first tournament - which Shang Tsung, in his younger form failed to do. He also served as commander of Outworld's armies, crushing rebellions and aiding in the conquer of many new realms for the Emperor. Goro's fighting style always revolved around taking advantage of his brute strength and surprising agility. In the early games, Goro was an imbalanced character. All of his moves did far more damage than all of the other characters, and because of that, he was notoriously difficult to defeat in the first game. In the 3D games, he was toned down to make him more balanced. His current depiction is being powerful, but slow. Goro is associated with the element of Fire. Like Kintaro, he could either project fireballs either from his mouth or his hands. In Shaolin Monks, he was able to shoot one fireball from each hand. He could also manipulate fire in his hands if he needed to attack using them. Signature moves *'Fireball:' Goro shoots a green fireball from his arm. This attack is stronger than most projectiles, just like his physical attacks. It also appeared in Mortal Kombat 4, but, this time, it was shot out of his mouth, similar to Kintaro. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the fireball is larger, redder, and does standard projectile damage. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Goro can shoot one from each hand, four in a row. In MK 2011 Goro returns to shooting one fireball from his arm as well as in MKX, where the move is called Shokan Bolt. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM, MK 2011, MKX) **The enhanced version shoots a larger green ball that can also hit ducking opponents and has increased damage. *'Flame Ball:' Goro shoots a fireball from his mouth at the opponent, much like Kintaro. This replaces his Shokan Bolt in the Tigrar Fury variation, and travels and activates faster than it. (MKX - Tigrar Fury Variation) **The enhanced version has Goro shoot three fireballs in quick sucession, with the last one knocking the opponent down. *'Leaping Stomp:' Goro jumps off the screen and lands on the opponent much like Kintaro and Sheeva. However, in the original Mortal Kombat and in Mortal Kombat (2011), he does not jump all the way off the screen; he only jumps the height of a normal jump. This is also known simply as Stomp in MK 2011 and MKX. In MKX, the move changes to Goro jumping off-screen and landing on his opponent, similar to his Shokan counterpart's moves in past games. Also in MKX, Goro can jump in front of or behind the opponent, though he will not land on them if they are stationary. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX) **In MK 2011 this move can be enhanced in the challenge 150, the only one in which Goro is playable, although his move list does not include it. The enhanced version makes Goro leap at a much higher height and cause extra damage at landing. **In MKX, ''the enhanced move is called '''Krush; '''The attack is activated much quicker and has armor, but deals no extra damage. However, if the opponent is close enough to Goro when it is activated, they will take damage from an additional hit. *'Chest Pound:' Grabbing his opponents with his lower arms, Goro then pounds them with his upper arms, depleting a substantial amount of his opponent's life. In ''Shaolin Monks, a Test Your Might occurs against Goro when he uses this attack. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM) *'Goro Grab:' Goro grabs the opponent in his bottom hands, then palms the opponents face in an upper hand, smashes them on the ground, and then flings them across the arena. This attack is also seen in the opening of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, used on Johnny Cage. (MK 2011) *'Spinning Fists:' Goro holds out his arms and spins around, smacking his opponent multiple times with his outstretched flaming fists. This is known as Arm Spin in MK 2011. (MKT, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A, MK 2011) *'Shokan Grab:' Goro lifts his opponent with his lower arms, lands six punches at their head with the upper ones and a final slam with both ones before throwing them away. (MKX) **The enhanced version, Shokan Slam has Goro land his flurry of punches and instead of throwing them away, slams them directly into the ground. The attack has extra damage and armor on startup. The enhanced version also gives Goro the option to slam the opponent in the opposite direction. *'Tremor Pound:' Goro jumps at the ground or hits it with all his arms making an earthquake. In MK 2011, this is called Ground Pound and Goro only smashes the ground with his upper two fists. In MKX this is called Quake and Goro once again hits it with all of his arms twice, tripping the opponent. (MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX - Kuatan Warrior Variation) **The enhanced version has Goro hit the ground five times, doing more damage, but only makes the opponent stumble instead of knocking them down. This attack is also capable of hitting grounded opponents, unlike Tremor Pound that needs the opponent to be standing for the move to hit. *'Taunt:' Goro will flex his upper arms and roar. This move does no damage and is solely used to taunt opponents. However, if the opponent is standing too close when the move is used, it will knock them down. (MK, MKT, MK 2011) *'Punch Walk:' While moving forward, Goro lands a series of punches to his opponent with his left and right arms, knocking them away. (MKX) **The enhanced version is called Fist Flurry and adds armor. Enhancing the attack a second time will cause Goro to uppercut the opponent in the end, allowing for a juggle, however it deals no additional damage. *'Chest Lunge:' Goro dashes at the opponent to grab them with his lower arms and throw them over his head, after which they land behind him. (MKX - Kuatan Warrior Variation) **The enhanced version is called Chest Charge and has increased damage. As he grabs them, Goro immediately slams the opponent to the ground behind him, making them hit their heads on it. Goro will also roar in triumph after the slam. *'Ground Fire:' Goro spits a fireball at the ground, hitting the opponent's feet and knocking them down. There are close and far versions of this move. (MKX - Tigrar Fury Variation) **The enhanced versions make the fireballs pop the opponent up, allowing for a juggle. *'Dragon Breath:' Goro breathes a stream of fire in front of him, burning the opponent if they're near. (MKX - Tigrar Fury Variation) **The enhanced version makes Goro breath fire for a longer time and move his head to hit the opponent three times. *'Shokan Stabs:' Goro grabs the opponent with an upper arm, stabs their abdomen multiple times with the Dragon Fangs on his lower ones and tosses them away with a final slash to the face. This replaces the Shokan Grab in the Dragon Fangs variation and does more damage. (MKX - Dragon Fangs Variation) **The enhanced version has Goro end the attack by slamming the opponent against the ground and then stomp on their head, which bounces them, adding extra damage. It also has armor on startup. * Fang Spin: Goro spins forward, slashing the opponent with his Dragon Fangs three times. (MKX - Dragon Fangs Variation) **The enhanced version pops the opponent up at the final slash, allowing for a juggle. * Low Fang: 'Goro stabs at the opponent's ankles, knocking them to the ground. (''MKX - Dragon Fangs Variation) ** The enhanced version is called '''Piercing Fang, which deals increased damage and has armor. *'X-Ray Move - Crusher:' Goro grabs and raises his opponent from the waist with his lower arms, then puts his upper hands to their head and presses hard until he eventually crushes their skull. He then throws them overhead and slams them into the floor, damaging their skull, ribs, and spine. (MK 2011) *'X-Ray Move - Spine Adjustment:' Goro punches his opponent hard enough to stun them. He then forcefully wrenches their head sideways, breaking their neck. He then uses his lower arms to grab their waist and violently stretches them out, shattering the spine and several ribs before punching them onto the ground. (MKX) Other moves *'Throw:' Goro grabs the opponent and slams them onto the ground with such force that they bounce into the air, giving Goro the opportunity to punch them away. (MKX) Fatalities *'Dragon Fangs:' Goro takes out his Dragon Fangs, slices the foe upward, stabs them into the foe's torso, then follows up by taking one and driving it into his/her throat. (MK:D) *'Limb Rip:' Goro grabs his opponent with his four arms and begins to tear them before he throws them on the ground. (MK:D) *'Boss Fatality:' Goro raises up the victim then drops them on his knee, breaking their spine. Then he grabs them by the head, slams them to the ground and then throws them far away. (MK:SM) *'Disconnect Four:' Goro grabs the opponent's head and tears it off with two arms. He then grabs it with his two other arms and tears it into 4 quarters. (MK 2011) *'Torn Apart:' Goro grabs the opponent with his upper hands and rips off the enemy's legs with his bottom hands. He flips them upside down and rips off their arms, and finally vertically rips the body in half. (MK 2011) *'Peek-A-Boo: '''Goro grabs the opponent with his lower arms and grabs the head with one upper arm. He then presses the head down into the chest cavity. Afterwards, he rips the skin from the abdomen, revealing the head as the opponent's corpse falls down. (''MKX) *'Shokan Amputation: '''Goro jumps down on the opponent. He then grabs both arms and legs with his four arms and rips them all off at once, still standing on his opponent. (''MKX) Other finishers *'Hara-Kiri:' Self Impale: Goro impales his abdomen with two of his Dragon Fangs, and then impales his eyes with the other two. (MK:D) *'Babality:' Goro starts clapping until he slaps himself, making him cry. (MK 2011) *'Brutality #1 - Speed Bag:' Goro grabs the opponent with his bottom two arms and beats on their head until it breaks, causing their brain to fall on the floor. A different version of this brutality occurs in his Dragon Fangs Variation: Goro grabs the opponent with his upper arms and stabs him/her multiple times with his lower ones, and he then slams them against the ground. He proceeds to stomp them while they're lying on the floor, which causes the opponent's upper half to rip in two vertically. (MKX) *'Brutality #2 - Krush:' Goro jumps into the air and lands right on top of his opponent; crushing them into bloody giblets. (MKX) *'Brutality #3 - Chest Bump:' Goro charges into the opponent, which knocks their heads off, and quickly throws upward with his lower arms tearing the flesh off of their legs. (MKX - Kuatan Warrior Variation) *'Brutality #4 - Tail Spin:' Goro performs his Spinning Fist attack with his Dragon Fangs and lands the final hit which completely obliterates his opponent's torso. (MKX - Dragon Fangs Variation) *'Brutality #5 - Shokan Flame:' Goro breathes fire and burns his opponent completely; leaving nothing but a charred skeleton. (MKX - Tigrar Fury Variation) *'Brutality #6:' Goro performs his Fist Flurry attack, with the uppercut at the end completely obliterating the opponent's torso. (MKX - Secret) Movie appearances Goro appears in the first ''Mortal Kombat'' movie as Shang Tsung's most loyal servant and protector as well as the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat, having granted Shang Tsung nine victories in a row. Goro thinks very unfavorably of humans, considering them weak. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, with vocal effects by Frank Welker. In the entire movie, he is the only villain to have defeated a protagonist onscreen as with his fight against Art Lean, one of Johnny Cage's acquaintances. After Art is defeated and his soul absorbed by Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage challenges Goro directly to avenge him. Goro grabbed Johnny's sunglasses and crushed them in one hand, angering Johnny. Cage was fully aware of Goro's strength, however, and when confronting him, resorts to his patented split-punch. Having been taken by surprise, the enraged Goro chases after Cage. Cage lures Goro to the narrow ledge of a steep cliff. With limited room to maneuver, Cage manages to knock Goro off the cliff to his death. Goro appears in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins. ''In the film, Goro confronts his older brother Duroc for a jeweled egg in which the winner was to tribute to their father Gorbak. He ends up losing the fight after hanging from a cliff while Duroc tries to help him up. Goro betrays his brother and knocks him into the pit. Comic Books Comics Published by Malibu Goro had a prominent role in Malibu's [[Comic Books|''Mortal Kombat comic book]] adaptations and was the first character to have his own three-issue miniseries, entitled Goro: Prince of Pain. Goro's story did not differ greatly from his in-game profiles, being the Mortal Kombat champion and having previously bested the Great Kung Lao. He was also portrayed as an unstoppable force, easily dispatching the Earthrealm warriors alone, and only having a hard time against Raiden. He remained undefeated during the first three issues of the Blood & Thunder series, having lost for the first time in the second issue of Prince of Pain against Zaggot's creation, The Kombatant. In the following Battlewave series, he remained on Earth after his defeat, and, to appease for his failure, started hunting down the Earthrealm warriors; he injured Jax in battle but was unable to defeat Liu Kang. In the fourth issue, he had a mini-story at the end ("When Titans Klash") where he returned to Outworld to fight for Shao Kahn, settling a rivalry with Kintaro along the way. Comics Published by Midway Goro also made a short appearance in the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe comic book where he, along with Johnny Cage, Robin, and Aquaman, is vanished from existence by Dark Kahn's powers. Quotes Mortal Kombat (2011) * "I will give you a warrior's death." (to Liu Kang) * "I did not expect to fight in this tournament. But eventually, even the Shaolin produce a warrior worthy of a Shokan." (to Liu Kang) Trivia General *In the original Mortal Kombat, as well as Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Goro's name was never announced after he won a fight. He is the only character to apply to the latter case, with the exception of Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat II, 3'', ''Ultimate MK3 and Trilogy. *Though Goro is a playable character in the Game Boy version of MK, the game itself is very slow, which renders Goro's gameplay very sloppy, with some of its moves being hard to pull off. Nonetheless, Goro is a very powerful character, able to deplete an opponent's health with minimum hits. *Goro has the shortest Bio Kard video out of all the characters. *Goro's Kuatan fighting style in Deception and Unchained is borrowed by Sheeva in Armageddon. *In his profile on the official Mortal Kombat comic and instruction manual for the first game, Goro is stated to be a polygamist, having seven wives. Sheeva has often been theorized to be one of them, but this has not been proven. To date, Sheeva has never been seen interacting with Goro in any capacity. *Goro is sometimes portrayed with two sets of pectoral muscles stacked on top of each other matching his arms. This was most notable with his design in Deception and Armageddon, ''but is typically the result of artistic liberty. *Goro has a cameo in ''Deception's Konquest mode, where he appears in the Netherrealm, missing his two lower arms. He is shown fighting Johnny Cage on an island amid a sea of lava. *Ed Boon said there were actually two Goro models made, one of which they kept changing over and over so it fell apart over time. He also said he had one stashed at his home; it is unknown if he still has it as of today (since Goro's Bio Kard, like many other characters, was recorded in 2004, the year Mortal Kombat: Deception was released). **In April 2013, Ed Boon found the original stop motion models for Goro, Kintaro, and Sheeva after a flood hit the Chicago suburbs. They will be added to the MK collection in Netherrealm studios. *In the movie, Goro's head and upper arms were an animatronic, while the bottom arms and walking movement were provided by an actor. *In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Goro was placed at #3 of the Best Mortal Kombat characters in the Mortal Kombat Series. *Unused sprites of Goro were recently discovered by a user named FLY. Among these sprites were of Goro falling to his knees and suddenly turned to stone with half of his body blasted off, which may have reinforced the idea that Goro was supposed to have been killed by Raiden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fujwDjJsPas&feature=relmfu *According to John Tobias, his early name was Gongoro, but the team decided to shorten the name. https://twitter.com/#!/therealsaibot/status/108623796809891841 John Tobias about Goro's name *In the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat, if the player performs Raiden's Fatality on the last opponent on the third Endurance round, Goro will appear in a glitchy silver form. *In Kung Lao's ending for MK Gold, Goro mentions that he has a son. *Although he is playable in the Gamecube and PSP ports of Deception, he still appears in the background of the Dark Prison. *Goro's storyline in Deception carried over from MK Gold and MK Tournament Edition, two updates of their original games. *Goro is killed by Johnny Cage upon his defeat in Shaolin Monks. *In Mortal Kombat (2011), he is playable in the 150th mission of the Challenge Tower, called "Gor-owned". *Goro's throw attack in MK 2011 is nearly identical to how he throws Johnny Cage in the intro of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, where it was also his Fatality. *Goro is the only boss character whom the player can actually perform both a Fatality and a Babality on. This is done during the 59th mission of the Challenge Tower. *Goro is the first character in Mortal Kombat history to be a downloadable pre-order bonus. He will also be part of Kombat Pack 2. *Goro appears in the movie Ready Player One. *Goro is one of the few characters to fight with bare feet. Others include Kintaro, Sheeva, Kobra, Drahmin, Moloch, Reptile, Meat, and Blaze. Mortal Kombat 4 *In Mortal Kombat 4/Gold, if Goro loses in Arcade mode and the player does not continue, he will fall to his death, but on his head instead of being impaled. His upper body clips through the floor down to his waist. *In the Nintendo 64 version of the game, Goro's name is not announced when he wins a match. It was added in the Playstation version released later, however. *Should Goro be selected as a playable character, the stage reel will permanently be frozen and will only load Goro's Lair until the game is reset or turned off. Mortal Kombat: Deception *Strangely, Goro is seen using 3 different weapons in Deception: he uses his Dragon Fangs as a weapon style, he uses a set of sais during his first Fatality (even though they are referred to as his Dragon Fangs, they are clearly sais), and during Shao Kahn's ending, he uses a quartet of swords. Mortal Kombat X * Although he is not present in the story mode at all, Goro serves as the sub-boss for klassic tower in the arcade. * During Alien's ending, a Shokan Xenomorph can be seen below, a presumed dead, Goro. * In the mobile version, he is one of the few characters to receive an exclusive reskin not featured in the main game. ** He is also one of 3 DLC characters to receive an exclusive reskin in the mobile game for a character card, the others being Tanya and Jason Voorhees. * An interaction with Sonya shows that he cares little of the potential threat of Shinnok, refusing to support Earthrealm even at the possible cost of Outworld. * With the release of Mortal Kombat XL, ''a glitch occurs during Goro's interactions. He will approach his opponent with an Outworlder in his arms before tearing the victim in half, but the graphical rendering shows Goro creating a clone of the victim rather than tearing them in half when he throws the severed half away. ** A similar graphical glitch occurs with the Predator when he does his '''Certain Death' on himself. These errors have yet to be corrected. * When Goro performs his Speed Bag brutality while in his Dragon Fangs variation, if the player does not us the enhanced version, Goro will still slam his opponent on the ground and stomp on them. This makes Goro one of 3 characters to perform an enhanced special during a brutality while not actually having to use said enhanced special. The other two are Jason and the Alien. * Goro is the tallest character in the game, barely standing taller than the Predator. ** The Predator stands at 7'2'', meaning Goro stands roughly 7'4''. * As a reference to the first ''Mortal Kombat ''movie, Johnny Cage asks if Goro owes him a pair of sunglasses. * During a dialogue, Goro states his contempt for Kintaro. * Goro is the only character in the game with two unblockable attacks, but this is only available in his Kuatan Warrior variation. 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